Matt Damon commends long-time friend Angelina Jolie for publicly announcing her double mastectomy as he believes her revelation will inspire others struggling with the health issue.

Angelina recently announced she has undergone a double mastectomy. The actress decided on the procedure after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene which dramatically increases a woman's risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Matt has been friends with Angelina and her fiancé Brad Pitt for several years.

At The Cannes International Film Festival Matt revealed he is deeply moved by the stunning star’s bravery.

“She’s awesome,” he told Extra.

“There are a lot of women who are struggling with medical decisions, and when they hear that the undeniably most sexy woman on planet Earth, as far as we know, is willing to take control of her health and be public about it, I think it gives other people courage to do that, too.”

Matt is currently in France at the annual movie event promoting his and Michael Douglas’ new HBO film Behind the Candelabra.

Angelina, 37, and Brad, 49, share six children together. They become engaged in April 2012 and are rumoured to be tying the knot later this year.

Matt has four children of his own with wife of eight years Luciana.

Angelina lost her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, to ovarian cancer in 2007. Marcheline was 56 when she passed away.

The actress said she made the difficult decision to have surgery so she could tell her children “they don’t need to fear they will lose me”.

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